Season’s Greetings Panoply followers! We’re looking forward to getting properly stuck into our 2015 projects. Expect new animations in January, February, and in the summer. To keep track of what's happening, you can sign-up to the email list on this page and/or check out our brand new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/panoplyvaseanimation
Looking back at 2014, we’re pleased with the outcomes of the Every Soldier has a Story project. Over 12,000 people in 112 countries have seen Hoplites! Greeks at War already; making the Every Soldier photo-film was a lot of fun and we love all the other artwork that people made to go with it – check it out at the bottom of the project page if you haven’t seen it. A session-plan with activity sheet and PowerPoint slides is still on that page too if you fancy leading your own ancient warfare activities.
We’d like to give a big shout-out to CNET for including Panoply in their recent tech review; their positivity and enthusiasm for the animations was much appreciated. You can see the feature below (Panoply’s at 9.30 mins).
Wishing you a wonderful 2015!
Steve and Sonya x
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Museum Internships: An Interview with Gabrielle Turner
1) Tell us about your internship – what did you do?
At my internship at the Ure Museum I helped out with their database by logging in artefacts, and helping out with the exhibit. The latter was a job that I carried on working on after my internship was finished.
2) You curated the Every Soldier has a Story case – what pieces did you choose and why?
I put in a lamp that depicts a ship because there is not much art in the ancient Greek world that portrays the navy. I found this interesting especially as they played such a significant role. The reason for this was because the navy was made out of the poorest citizens and the rich would not want the lower class shown on their vases.
Another vase that I put in depicts a scene of young men performing athletics. I thought this one would be interesting to go in because it will show the visitors how important citizen soldiers were to the state. They had to be trained from such a young age; this vase will give visitors an idea of the intensity of their training.
I also chose a vase depicting hoplites in full armour, looking as if they are heading to war. I chose this one because it highlights how glorified war can be.
3) What are you studying at Roehampton for your Classical Civilisation degree?
My current modules this term are Latin and Demosthenes and the Rhetoric of Power. I am also writing my dissertation on the character Tydeus in the ‘Thebaid.’ I have found this great to work on as I have been able to be more independent in my study and chose a subject that I have a lot of interest in.
4) How did you arrange the internship, and would you recommend the experience?
I first sent an email to the Ure Museum telling them about my interests and future career prospects and asking if I could do an internship there. I got my lecturer to double-check my email. I also attached my CV to the email. The process was amazing, it felt great to have the responsibility that I was given. I enjoyed every moment of it and I would definitely recommend this experience to fellow students.
5) Who’s your favourite ancient Greek?
This is tough! I would have to choose Diomedes, son of Tydeus. This is because I find that he is extremely underrated in the Iliad, even though he plays such a prominent role in it. I also like how wily Diomedes and Odysseus are; they work well together as a team.
Many thanks to Gabrielle for taking part in the project and for talking to us today.
The completed 'Every Soldier has a Story' case.
Friday, 21 November 2014
Teaching and Learning Ancient Religion
This week I led a session at Senate House, London, for the Teaching and Learning Ancient Religion Network (TLAR). TLAR’s aim ‘is to establish an international network interested in teaching and learning about ancient religions. This reflects a sense that there is something distinctive about this particular area, even within the broad field of classics.’ A mix of academics, doctoral candidates, and BA students joined the session.
I began by describing some of the material that’s available on the Panoply site and how that relates to the teaching and study of ancient Greek religion. Some of our animations, such as Hoplites! Greeks at War, contain religious elements (such as a hepatoscopy and the erection of a trophy) that have been incorporated into a vase scene that has no religious features. Others animate religious features that already exist in the original artwork, such as The Love of Honour, in which a man receives a wreath and recounts his sporting victories. I also discussed an animation featuring Nike and a sacrificial bull which Steve is busy making now – more on that soon!
Watching Hoplites!
Other animations act out myths, such as Heracles and Persephone and the Sirens, while others animate scenes featuring well-known mythical characters, such as Achilles and Ajax in Clash of the Dicers.
All of these animations make a great springboard into discussions of ancient myth and religion. These could be directly related to the content of the animation, by asking questions such as ‘What are the objects that the characters have in The Love of Honour?’ or ‘What is the trophy’s function in Hoplites!?’. Alternatively, they can be less directly related, with, for example, Clash of the Dicers acting as a gentle introduction to a discussion of Ajax, Achilles, or the Trojan War.
The animations can prompt a number of other sorts of activities. To some extent these are activities that can be done just with vases, but the accompaniment of the animations seems to make students (young and older) more enthusiastic about the process and can also help people to look at the vases with more attention and more creative freedom.
One great activity is virtual curating. Set your students the challenge of creating a case that expresses the theme of ancient religion. They don’t need real vases, let them loose to pick artefacts from books and online catalogues. Ask them to write text for their cabinet and get them to pick (or plan) an animation to include in their display. This is a fun activity, but it’s also challenging and it encourages students to imagine themselves in a leading role using their knowledge to help others.
Another activity is review-writing. Ask you students to pick an animation to review and analyse, paying particular attention to the representation of gods, heroes, or religious activities. Alternatively, ask them to write scripts for the animations, working in groups or on their own. As the Panoply website has so much information about ancient topics, it’s also a safe place for teachers and lecturers to leave students to explore and research. Set them a question or a topic and let them spend time on the website putting together their response. The Panoply website can also be used for the curating challenge as there are so many images and links to ancient literature.
One of our favourite activities at Panoply is storyboarding. Storyboarding based on vases encourages people to pay close attention to the details within a vase scene and it’s a fun yet thought-provoking way for people to bring together and draw on what they’ve learned. If you’ve been covering Greek religion with a class for a few weeks, let them process some of what they’ve learned by putting together a story for an animation through a storyboard. This will really help them to make connections. By working in groups they can weigh-up different possibilities. If lots of animations are planned from the same vase, this will also help to release students from the tyranny of ‘one interpretation’ when they see the different directions their class-mates have taken their animations in. There will be an interesting discussion when the groups share and compare their work.
Towards the end of the session we created some storyboards ourselves. It was great how everybody got on board; ideas and a happy buzz soon filled the room. You can see a few here:
I began by describing some of the material that’s available on the Panoply site and how that relates to the teaching and study of ancient Greek religion. Some of our animations, such as Hoplites! Greeks at War, contain religious elements (such as a hepatoscopy and the erection of a trophy) that have been incorporated into a vase scene that has no religious features. Others animate religious features that already exist in the original artwork, such as The Love of Honour, in which a man receives a wreath and recounts his sporting victories. I also discussed an animation featuring Nike and a sacrificial bull which Steve is busy making now – more on that soon!
Watching Hoplites!Other animations act out myths, such as Heracles and Persephone and the Sirens, while others animate scenes featuring well-known mythical characters, such as Achilles and Ajax in Clash of the Dicers.
All of these animations make a great springboard into discussions of ancient myth and religion. These could be directly related to the content of the animation, by asking questions such as ‘What are the objects that the characters have in The Love of Honour?’ or ‘What is the trophy’s function in Hoplites!?’. Alternatively, they can be less directly related, with, for example, Clash of the Dicers acting as a gentle introduction to a discussion of Ajax, Achilles, or the Trojan War.
The animations can prompt a number of other sorts of activities. To some extent these are activities that can be done just with vases, but the accompaniment of the animations seems to make students (young and older) more enthusiastic about the process and can also help people to look at the vases with more attention and more creative freedom.
One great activity is virtual curating. Set your students the challenge of creating a case that expresses the theme of ancient religion. They don’t need real vases, let them loose to pick artefacts from books and online catalogues. Ask them to write text for their cabinet and get them to pick (or plan) an animation to include in their display. This is a fun activity, but it’s also challenging and it encourages students to imagine themselves in a leading role using their knowledge to help others.
Another activity is review-writing. Ask you students to pick an animation to review and analyse, paying particular attention to the representation of gods, heroes, or religious activities. Alternatively, ask them to write scripts for the animations, working in groups or on their own. As the Panoply website has so much information about ancient topics, it’s also a safe place for teachers and lecturers to leave students to explore and research. Set them a question or a topic and let them spend time on the website putting together their response. The Panoply website can also be used for the curating challenge as there are so many images and links to ancient literature.
One of our favourite activities at Panoply is storyboarding. Storyboarding based on vases encourages people to pay close attention to the details within a vase scene and it’s a fun yet thought-provoking way for people to bring together and draw on what they’ve learned. If you’ve been covering Greek religion with a class for a few weeks, let them process some of what they’ve learned by putting together a story for an animation through a storyboard. This will really help them to make connections. By working in groups they can weigh-up different possibilities. If lots of animations are planned from the same vase, this will also help to release students from the tyranny of ‘one interpretation’ when they see the different directions their class-mates have taken their animations in. There will be an interesting discussion when the groups share and compare their work.
Towards the end of the session we created some storyboards ourselves. It was great how everybody got on board; ideas and a happy buzz soon filled the room. You can see a few here:
Monday, 10 November 2014
Every Soldier has a Story – Live Event
Hoplites! Greeks at War has had its first public showing at a celebration of the Every Soldier has a Story project. We’re delighted that Hoplites! was well-received and glad that all the different ideas and artworks generated through the project are now being shared.
Joining us at the Ure Museum for the day were pupils from the East End Classics Centre, who are based at the BSix sixth-form college in London. The pupils, aged from 16-18, got stuck into a day of ancient-world activities. They toured the University of Reading’s Classics Department and Archaeology Department, finding out what undergraduate study in those subjects includes and enjoying handling sessions with ancient vases and real human remains. They joined Sonya in the museum for a session on ancient Greek warfare, and after watching the Hoplites! trailer and studying its vase, they planned their own storyboards.
The EE Classics Centre pupils then took to the essential task of putting-up the exhibition for the evening’s launch event in anticipation of the public’s arrival. The exhibition included images of vases featuring scenes of ancient warfare, images of armour, maps, photos from the Every Soldier photo-film, a display about the Thiasos Theatre Company, one on hoplites in art after antiquity, and plenty of storyboards and artwork relating to the Hoplites! vase including work by pupils at the UCL Academy, Kelmscott School, Kids Company, and the East End Classics Centre itself. (You can see much of this material on the Every Soldier project page)
One the evening event began, guests heard an introduction to the Every Soldier has a Story project – about the concept, vase, and participants. They then enjoyed a video of the Hoplites! storyboard, accompanied by live music from composer John White and musicians MJ Coldiron and Jasmine Blundell from the Thiasos Theatre Company. Singing bowls and percussive bells created a memorable atmosphere evoking ancient Greece and the tense anticipation and excitement of combat. The Every Soldier photo-film was played next, with Thiasos accompanying and picking out themes through their magical sound-scape.
Hoplites! Greeks at War then had its chance to meet the public and it looked amazing on a full cinema-size screen. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss it! Every Soldier. After the first viewing, Sonya picked out a few details to discuss, such as the decisions made about representing formation and fighting styles, how the extra troops were created, and the use of existing vase images to guide the representation of elements such as the liver-examination and the postures of the fallen soldiers. This was followed by a second viewing of the animation, which received a warm response from the diverse audience of ancient historians, archaeologists, teachers, music-lovers, animation-lovers, and ancient world enthusiasts.
At the reception that followed, the audience enjoyed food and drink as they looked through the exhibition, visited the Ure Museum, and watched other Panoply animations on a giant TV screen. University of Roehampton student, Gabrielle Turner was on-hand to tell people how she went about curating the Every Soldier has a Story display-case (more on that here soon), and Steve explained more about his work creating the Hoplites! animation
Huge thanks to everyone who came. Special thanks to Thiasos for a wonderful performance. And very grateful thanks to our reception sponsors, the Ure Museum, the Department of Classics at Reading, and Bloomsbury Publishing. It was a wonderful evening that did justice to all the creativity that has been inspired by this wonderful artefact. Now we’re looking forward to Hoplites! Greeks at War appearing in any homes and classrooms around the world where there’s interest in ancient Greece.
Joining us at the Ure Museum for the day were pupils from the East End Classics Centre, who are based at the BSix sixth-form college in London. The pupils, aged from 16-18, got stuck into a day of ancient-world activities. They toured the University of Reading’s Classics Department and Archaeology Department, finding out what undergraduate study in those subjects includes and enjoying handling sessions with ancient vases and real human remains. They joined Sonya in the museum for a session on ancient Greek warfare, and after watching the Hoplites! trailer and studying its vase, they planned their own storyboards.
The EE Classics Centre pupils then took to the essential task of putting-up the exhibition for the evening’s launch event in anticipation of the public’s arrival. The exhibition included images of vases featuring scenes of ancient warfare, images of armour, maps, photos from the Every Soldier photo-film, a display about the Thiasos Theatre Company, one on hoplites in art after antiquity, and plenty of storyboards and artwork relating to the Hoplites! vase including work by pupils at the UCL Academy, Kelmscott School, Kids Company, and the East End Classics Centre itself. (You can see much of this material on the Every Soldier project page)
One the evening event began, guests heard an introduction to the Every Soldier has a Story project – about the concept, vase, and participants. They then enjoyed a video of the Hoplites! storyboard, accompanied by live music from composer John White and musicians MJ Coldiron and Jasmine Blundell from the Thiasos Theatre Company. Singing bowls and percussive bells created a memorable atmosphere evoking ancient Greece and the tense anticipation and excitement of combat. The Every Soldier photo-film was played next, with Thiasos accompanying and picking out themes through their magical sound-scape.
Hoplites! Greeks at War then had its chance to meet the public and it looked amazing on a full cinema-size screen. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss it! Every Soldier. After the first viewing, Sonya picked out a few details to discuss, such as the decisions made about representing formation and fighting styles, how the extra troops were created, and the use of existing vase images to guide the representation of elements such as the liver-examination and the postures of the fallen soldiers. This was followed by a second viewing of the animation, which received a warm response from the diverse audience of ancient historians, archaeologists, teachers, music-lovers, animation-lovers, and ancient world enthusiasts.
At the reception that followed, the audience enjoyed food and drink as they looked through the exhibition, visited the Ure Museum, and watched other Panoply animations on a giant TV screen. University of Roehampton student, Gabrielle Turner was on-hand to tell people how she went about curating the Every Soldier has a Story display-case (more on that here soon), and Steve explained more about his work creating the Hoplites! animation
Huge thanks to everyone who came. Special thanks to Thiasos for a wonderful performance. And very grateful thanks to our reception sponsors, the Ure Museum, the Department of Classics at Reading, and Bloomsbury Publishing. It was a wonderful evening that did justice to all the creativity that has been inspired by this wonderful artefact. Now we’re looking forward to Hoplites! Greeks at War appearing in any homes and classrooms around the world where there’s interest in ancient Greece.
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Hoplites! Greeks at War - Launched
We are delighted that Hoplites! Greeks at War has finally been seen by a live audience. A big-thank you to everyone who attended the launch - we're glad you enjoyed the animation and thanks for making it a special evening. Special thanks to Thiasos for a spectacular performance.
We hope you've enjoyed watching the animation at home too. Over the next few weeks we'll be adding more to the supporting material and posting more on here. Check back soon, or follow me on Twitter (@SonyaNevin) for the latest.
We hope you've enjoyed watching the animation at home too. Over the next few weeks we'll be adding more to the supporting material and posting more on here. Check back soon, or follow me on Twitter (@SonyaNevin) for the latest.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
Every Soldier Photo-Film
We’re delighted that the Every Soldier has a Story photo-film is now up online on the project page. Have you seen it yet? We hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who took part!
People have been very imaginative; there are ambitious hoplites, peace-loving hoplites, musician, farmer, athlete and mercenary hoplites. For grammar-lovers, there all sorts of approaches to expressing hoplite-ness too.
A big shout-out to Lifo for running a piece about the project: http://www.lifo.gr/team/evrymata/50764 We were really pleased to have hoplites arriving from Greece.
The animation itself is coming along well. The main story has been completed and it’s time for little details to be finalised. The music promises to be really special; composer John White of the Thiasos Theatre Company is putting his musical genius to work creating tracks especially for Every Soldier has a Story.
In just over a month (17th Oct) it will be time for the project’s launch event – an evening of live music, animation, and fun. This is the first music and vase-animation have been combined together for a live event – don’t miss it! See the project page for details.
People have been very imaginative; there are ambitious hoplites, peace-loving hoplites, musician, farmer, athlete and mercenary hoplites. For grammar-lovers, there all sorts of approaches to expressing hoplite-ness too.
A big shout-out to Lifo for running a piece about the project: http://www.lifo.gr/team/evrymata/50764 We were really pleased to have hoplites arriving from Greece.
The animation itself is coming along well. The main story has been completed and it’s time for little details to be finalised. The music promises to be really special; composer John White of the Thiasos Theatre Company is putting his musical genius to work creating tracks especially for Every Soldier has a Story.
In just over a month (17th Oct) it will be time for the project’s launch event – an evening of live music, animation, and fun. This is the first music and vase-animation have been combined together for a live event – don’t miss it! See the project page for details.
Saturday, 12 July 2014
Every Soldier has a Story: Your new stories and WW1 stories
A huge thank-you to everyone who has taken Every Soldier has a Story photos. It’s fascinating to see the huge variety of ideas people have had about the private lives of hoplites. We’ve included a few below to give you a better sense of what people have been doing and what the final video will be like. You still have time to contribute if you haven’t already. Download the sheet from www.panoply.org.uk/everysoldier.html, send us your hoplite photos before the end of July, and we’ll gladly include you in the video and exhibition.
In 2014 it’s impossible to work on a project about soldiers without being conscious of the First World War centenary. The ancient world was a presence throughout WW1, as it shaped the way many people thought about warfare, duty, killing, and dying. These impressions also shaped the way that war poets expressed their experience of war, including Patrick Shaw-Stewart’s request, ‘Stand in the trench, Achilles,/ Flame-capped, and shout for me,’ and Wilfred Owen’s condemnation of ‘The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori (‘it is sweet and right to die for your country’, taken from Roman poet Horace’s Ode 3.2)
As a war on an industrial scale, the First World War was (and still is) often regarded as having had a dehumanising effect on its participants. So dire were the conditions and so large the scale of the conflict that the actions and value of the individual could be lost in the horror. As Wilfred Owen observed, this did not match the ancient idea of war as the place ‘where men win glory’ (Iliad, 4.225). Paths of Glory by painter CRW Nevinson depicts the dead not as glorious heroes, but as faceless ruins. The painting was immediately censored. Its implied criticism of the conflict was expected to damage public morale, yet it expressed a truth about the conflict and was purchased by the Imperial War Museum, who include it in their forthcoming exhibition: Truth and Memory: British Art of the First World War.
War in the 6th century-BCE was not as dehumanising as the First World War. Campaigns were shorter, conflict was face-to-face, there were no explosives to contend with, and soldiers’ communities were perhaps better placed to support them psychologically. Nonetheless, it is still easy to over-simplify the lives of ancient soldiers. Important though it was to be a warrior, no one was ever just a warrior; each of them had their own families, their own interests, their own priorities, hopes, and concerns. Every Soldier has a Storyinvites you to explore this idea. Who’s your hoplite? What’s his story?
For more on these topics, see:
The Faceless Men, by Allan Little (BBC article on Nevinson's Paths of Glory)
Achilles in the Trenches by Charlotte Higgens (Guardian article on the Iliad and war poetry)
Stand in the Trench, Achilles by Elizabeth Vandiver (full-length work on classical civilisation in WW1)
The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite by Jason Crowley (full-length work on the psychology of the hoplite in the 5th century BCE; this relates to an era after than that of the vase, but it’s still a very relevant and fascinating work).
Send your hoplites to us at the address on the project page or tweet them to us @SonyaNevin
In 2014 it’s impossible to work on a project about soldiers without being conscious of the First World War centenary. The ancient world was a presence throughout WW1, as it shaped the way many people thought about warfare, duty, killing, and dying. These impressions also shaped the way that war poets expressed their experience of war, including Patrick Shaw-Stewart’s request, ‘Stand in the trench, Achilles,/ Flame-capped, and shout for me,’ and Wilfred Owen’s condemnation of ‘The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori (‘it is sweet and right to die for your country’, taken from Roman poet Horace’s Ode 3.2)
As a war on an industrial scale, the First World War was (and still is) often regarded as having had a dehumanising effect on its participants. So dire were the conditions and so large the scale of the conflict that the actions and value of the individual could be lost in the horror. As Wilfred Owen observed, this did not match the ancient idea of war as the place ‘where men win glory’ (Iliad, 4.225). Paths of Glory by painter CRW Nevinson depicts the dead not as glorious heroes, but as faceless ruins. The painting was immediately censored. Its implied criticism of the conflict was expected to damage public morale, yet it expressed a truth about the conflict and was purchased by the Imperial War Museum, who include it in their forthcoming exhibition: Truth and Memory: British Art of the First World War.
War in the 6th century-BCE was not as dehumanising as the First World War. Campaigns were shorter, conflict was face-to-face, there were no explosives to contend with, and soldiers’ communities were perhaps better placed to support them psychologically. Nonetheless, it is still easy to over-simplify the lives of ancient soldiers. Important though it was to be a warrior, no one was ever just a warrior; each of them had their own families, their own interests, their own priorities, hopes, and concerns. Every Soldier has a Storyinvites you to explore this idea. Who’s your hoplite? What’s his story?
For more on these topics, see:
The Faceless Men, by Allan Little (BBC article on Nevinson's Paths of Glory)
Achilles in the Trenches by Charlotte Higgens (Guardian article on the Iliad and war poetry)
Stand in the Trench, Achilles by Elizabeth Vandiver (full-length work on classical civilisation in WW1)
The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite by Jason Crowley (full-length work on the psychology of the hoplite in the 5th century BCE; this relates to an era after than that of the vase, but it’s still a very relevant and fascinating work).
Send your hoplites to us at the address on the project page or tweet them to us @SonyaNevin
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